Greatness Podcast

Construction industry icon and good friend Jan Tuchman, Editor in Chief of ENR Enterprises. joined the Greatness podcast to discuss her perspective on today's top industry topics, including technology, transformative change and diversity. We also had a chance to discuss our passion for Bridges to Prosperity as I pass the baton September 1 to Jan as the next Chairperson of the Board. 

How do you find your dream job? How do you ensure that your personal brand aligns with your aspirations? What does it take to live to your full potential? These are some of the important questions that Sarah Makris, personal branding expert and coach, discussed during a visit to the Greatness podcast. Sarah's advice really resonated with me, and gave me an opportunity to reflect back upon my...

Every once in a while we stumble across someone whose ideas are so compelling you simply must spend time with them. Dr. Alyssa Westring, co-author of Parents Who Lead is that person for me. She has studied the challenge of working parents for decades, but with a unique spin of applying leadership strategies to parenting. An example - in my book 8 Steps to Being a Great Working Mom, I talk about ho...

Every once in a while you meet someone that is such a tremendous leader, so incredibly gifted and respected that you really sit up and take notice. That was the case when I met Gabrielle Trainor, Chair of the Construction Industry Culture Taskforce among many additional positions of leadership. Gabrielle joined the Greatness podcast to discuss the critical work of the Taskforce in reshaping the co...

I was listening to the radio here in Australia just after the last US presidential election, and the radio announcer asked "How do 70 million Americans think four more years of Trump is a good idea?". Regardless of your political viewpoint, Zoe Daniels' new book, Greetings from Trumpland: How an Unprecedented Presidency Changed Everything , gives incredible insight into answering th...

How does a US general contractor achieve 35 female craft workers on their 140-person project team? Maja Rosenquist, Sr. VP with Mortenson, joined the Greatness podcast to talk about her company's "intentional strategy" to embrace diversity and inclusion in the construction industry and the successes they are experiencing as a result. I admire Maja as an incredible leader in our indu...

I've loved spending most of my career in the engineer/construction/energy industry, and I had the good fortune of passing the Presidency of Continuum Advisory Group on to Kelcey Henderson, another woman in our industry that I greatly admire. Kelcey and I connected on the Greatness Podcast to reflect on the history of women in the industry, discuss where we are today (about 10% of the industry...

One of the most enjoyable aspects of moving to Australia has been the exciting journey of meeting fabulous people who share my passion for making the world a better place. Karen Gately, Founder of Corporate Dojo and acclaimed author, shares that passion. Karen draws upon her marshal arts experience to help leaders on their journey of self-mastery and personal accountability. Karen joined the Great...

For 35 years I've been a pioneering woman in manufacturing and construction, starting in 1986 as the first female operations manager in the US for Ralston Purina and later as one of the first female shareholders/managing directors for FMI. It's time for us to fix the diversity issue in construction, and I applaud NAWIC Australia - the National Association of Women in Construction - for t...

Creating transformational change in an industry is a massive undertaking, and I applaud the Construction Industry Institute, CII, and its leader, Stephen Mulva, for the role they have played in driving change in capital program delivery. We are the industry that "builds the world" but research shows that 41% of the cost of any construction project is waste. I had the great pleasure of wo...

When I moved to Australia, I found it fascinating that the construction industry here is facing similar challenges to those faced in the US - lagging productivity gains, lack of trust and collaboration, and image challenges. Last year I was thrilled to meet Jon Davies, CEO of the Australian Constructors Association, a fellow champion of change who is leading the charge for shifts in the industry h...

So thrilling to have Gabrielle Dolan on the Greatness podcast to discuss her latest book, Magnetic Stories. I have learned so much from Gabrielle about how to leverage stories to create connections, strengthen relationships, build brand, etc. Magnetic Stories focuses upon how to use brand storytelling to connect with customers and engage employees, and Gabrielle shares great tips for this on the p...

Ethical behavior is not just the right thing to do, new research shows it's the profitable thing to do. Dr. Simon Longstaff of The Ethics Centre ( www.ethics.org.au ) joined the Greatness podcast to share his fascinating life journey, thoughts on how ethics is embedding in the day-to-day choices we make, and the new research study that demonstrates the concrete economic returns of ethical beh...

How deep is your relationships with yourself? Are you a “life entrepreneur”? Gregg Vanourek, co-author of Triple Crown Leadership and fellow lecturer at the University of Denver joined the Greatness podcast to share his insights on how leaders create cultures of excellence, ethics and endurance, in part by first deeply understanding questions such as “who am I? and “why am I here?”. Great suggesti...

How do we hold confidence and humility simultaneously? How can we act confidently without coming across as boastful or arrogant? Michelle Sales, Author of The Power of Real Confidence, joined the Greatness podcast to share her research and advice for being a confident, connected leader. Michelle’s four elements of confidence, and her ability to leverage the ideas of other researchers, really reson...

Mindfulness – one of this century’s most popular buzzwords, yet do we really deeply understand what mindfulness means? How do leaders and teams go about developing mindfulness competencies? Michael Chaskalson is noted for being the first person in the world to receive a masters in the clinical application of mindfulness. Michael joined the Greatness podcast from Cambridge to share research on the...

Hello everyone, this is Gretchen Gagel with Greatness. Just a warning that today's episode deals with some sensitive topics, specifically domestic violence and abuse. This is different from our usual subject matter and may be difficult for some listeners, so I wanted to put include a warning up front. With that out of the way, I think everyone can learn something from today's episode. Th...

Do you experience frustration that no matter how much you encourage people to speak up you still feel that you’re not hearing everything you need to hear? You’re not alone. Megan Reitz, author of “Speak Up”, visited the Greatness podcast to share her research about the conversational patters we become stuck within both as people and as organizations; and how power and labels, real and imagined, fi...

Community – what does that word mean to you? To our team, community is critical to the vitality of an organization. It’s about focusing our energy and our actions to achieve a mutually important purpose. It’s about aligning our strategies and tactics based upon our common values. It’s about looking out for one another on the way to extraordinary success. Conversant Founder and Chairman Mickey Conn...

We speak frequently of an organization’s purpose, but purpose is also relevant to an industry. Judo Bank Co-Founder and Co-CEO Joseph Healy argues in his latest book, Breaking the Banks, that the global banking industry has lost it’s purpose. Joseph joined the Greatest podcast to reflect upon why banking is one of the least trusted industries globally, discussing the systemic and cultural challeng...

One of the greatest challenges in creating an agile organization is driving urgency for the need to change. Covid-19 has created an urgent need to change. But what about two years from now? How can you, as a leader, create a nimble organization that is “proactive in reacting”, that embraces “wonder” and the urgent need to evolve? It was really fun to turn the tables on the Greatness podcast by hav...

How can leaders create learning organizations that enable people to achieve their greatest personal contribution? How can we as leaders not allow the stress of today’s situation to drive us back to the learned behaviors of a heroic culture?  These are the strategic concerns of today’s world discussed by Jim Motroni, Senior Partner with Conversant, during this compelling conversation on the Greatne...

Can you help someone develop collaboration skills? Absolutely according to Francesca Gino, Harvard professor and author of Rebel Talent. Francesca joined the Greatness podcast to discuss how critical collaboration is in today’s disruptive business environment and the six training techniques to build collaboration skills in yourself and others. Francesca also shares the five secret talents of the r...

How can we have productive conversations with no visual cues? And, what does that tell us about how to thrive amid the big crisis-driven move to virtual communication?  Mickey Connolly, Founder and Chairman of Conversant, joined the Greatness podcast to talk about one of the foundational tools of the organization, the “conversation meter”. When used, this powerful tool elevates our conversations t...

Does your organization have a soul? Bill Boyar, Founding Shareholder of BoyarMiller, joined the Greatness podcast to discuss why he left one law firm, which “had no soul”, to found another firm where growing and making money was the outcome, not the purpose. Bill shares some of the tough decisions he and his partners have faced over the years, and how they continue to focus upon consistently behav...